I am Aaron Martin. I create web experiences, mobile products, custom typography, and branding experiences. I provide creative direction by way of design, strategy, and art direction.
Your role extends far beyond leading a team of designers. You are a catalyst for cultural transformation, responsible for embedding a customer-centric mindset throughout the entire organization. In today’s competitive landscape, companies that genuinely understand and empathize with their customers gain a lasting advantage. This requires more than periodic user testing or customer surveys. It demands a deep, sustained cultural shift that places the customer at the center of every decision.
As a design leader, your role extends far beyond leading a team of designers. You are a catalyst for cultural transformation, responsible for embedding a customer-centric mindset throughout the entire organization. In today’s competitive landscape, companies that genuinely understand and empathize with their customers gain a lasting advantage. This requires more than periodic user testing or customer surveys—it demands a deep, sustained cultural shift that places the customer at the center of every decision.
Infusing a customer-centric mindset into company culture begins with advocating for empathy and a genuine understanding of the customer experience. It’s about moving beyond metrics and dashboards to truly grasp the needs, desires, and frustrations of the people who use your products or services. You are uniquely positioned to lead this charge, leveraging your team’s insights and taste to shape strategies and practices across departments.
Cultivating this mindset means breaking down silos and building stronger cross-functional collaboration. Every team member (regardless of role) should feel connected to the customer journey and understand how their work impacts the end experience. When customer feedback is not only valued but actively sought, the organization becomes more responsive, innovative, and aligned with the evolving needs of its market.
A customer-centric approach also requires a commitment to continuous learning and adaptation. Encourage teams to remain curious about user behavior and broader industry trends. Promote a culture that welcomes experimentation and treats failures as valuable sources of learning. This approach not only improves the customer experience but also deepens employee engagement, as people see firsthand how their work contributes to customer satisfaction and success.
Lead by example by engaging directly with customers and sharing your insights with the team. Build processes that capture and integrate customer feedback into every stage of product development and decision-making. Organize cross-functional workshops focused on solving customer pain points, and support empathy training to help employees better understand customer perspectives. Encourage the use of customer journey mapping as a living tool for visualizing and improving experiences.
Celebrate customer success stories to reinforce the value of this mindset. Set team objectives that align with customer satisfaction metrics and create open communication channels where employees can share insights and suggestions. Empower frontline employees to make real-time decisions that enhance satisfaction and loyalty. Finally, stay attuned to industry and market trends, adjusting strategies proactively to meet shifting expectations.
By championing these practices, you lay the foundation for a culture that prioritizes the customer as the ultimate measure of success. A true customer-centric mindset is not a one-time initiative but a continuous commitment—one that requires attention, humility, and leadership at every level of the organization.
Even as AI capabilities grow, some aspects of design are better when they’re ours. These are the parts of the craft that become even more vital as automation advances. They represent our red lines—what we choose to protect because they define the human side of design.
Taste → The intangible “this feels right” signal that blends intuition with experience.
Empathy → Real understanding, not just recognition of data patterns.
Ethics → Knowing what not to ship and being accountable for the consequences of design decisions.
Surprise → Humor, weirdness, and cultural resonance—the spark that makes products feel alive.
Tone → Emotional precision: the way an experience should feel, not just how it should function.
In a customer-centric culture, these are the qualities that distinguish design leadership from automation. They guide how we interpret insights, tell stories, and decide what should exist—not just what can be built.
This may be one of the most valuable areas of focus for your role. Enabling your partners to think like designers does more than increase empathy, it scales your influence. It helps others make decisions you would have made yourself and raises the overall quality of the product. When design thinking becomes a shared mindset, the design function stops being a department and becomes a capability that lives across the organization.
Focusing on this work empowers employees to approach problems with curiosity and confidence. It enhances collaboration by breaking down silos and encouraging teams to see problems through a shared, human-centered lens. It drives innovation, inviting creative problem-solving that leads to truly original solutions. It improves user satisfaction, ensuring that products and services remain aligned with the needs and desires of the people who use them. And it cultivates a growth mindset, fueling adaptability, learning, and resilience throughout the company.
Your influence extends far beyond your immediate team. You have the ability to catalyze a cultural shift; one where design thinking becomes the connective tissue between departments, shaping how problems are defined and solved. Design thinking is not a process reserved for designers; it’s a universal framework for empathy-driven problem-solving. When embedded deeply into the company’s operating model, it strengthens collaboration, sharpens strategy, and grounds innovation in real human need.
Embedding design thinking across teams is a multifaceted endeavor that requires education, modeling, and reinforcement. The following sections explore how to cultivate awareness, demonstrate relevance, and make design thinking a consistent part of everyday decision-making across your organization.
Integrating design thinking begins with cultivating genuine awareness and understanding of its principles across the company. Many people outside the design function are unfamiliar with design thinking or see it only as a tool for aesthetics. To change this perception, you must invest in educational initiatives that demystify the methodology and demonstrate its universal relevance.
By hosting interactive workshops that introduce the core stages of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. These sessions should be participatory, hands-on, and anchored in real examples. When people experience design thinking for themselves, seeing how empathy leads to insight and iteration leads to clarity, they begin to recognize its power to solve problems. Supplement these workshops with case studies that show how design thinking has driven transformation in industries beyond technology or design. This context builds credibility and curiosity.
Reinforce learning through your internal communication channels. Share short articles, videos, and success stories that showcase practical applications of design thinking within your organization. Feature interviews with employees who have applied these methods to their own projects, highlighting what they learned and achieved. By continuously exposing teams to the language and successes of design thinking, you help the mindset take root in daily work. I try to post heavily in company-wide #design channels with things I find valuable, followed by why I find them valuable.
Executive sponsorship is also essential. When senior leaders actively participate in workshops or share their experiences publicly, it signals strategic importance and legitimizes the effort. Their advocacy not only motivates teams but also helps secure the resources needed to sustain learning. Encourage executives to tell stories of how design thinking changed their perspective or informed key decisions: it’s one of the most powerful forms of cultural modeling.
Lead by example by organizing interactive workshops that invite employees to learn through doing. Create clear, accessible learning materials that explain design thinking and highlight its real-world impact. Use company newsletters, internal platforms, and team meetings to share stories of success and learning. Partner with executives to champion these initiatives, making their involvement visible and consistent.
Foster a culture of proactive learning by encouraging employees to ask questions and seek opportunities to apply what they’ve learned. Promote open-mindedness by celebrating curiosity and challenging assumptions. Finally, ensure that leaders actively participate in these efforts, allocating time and resources to reinforce that design thinking isn’t just a tool—it’s a shared way of approaching problems with empathy, creativity, and discipline.
To create meaningful adoption of design thinking across an organization, teams must see how it applies to their specific work. Design thinking often thrives when it’s grounded in the context of real departmental challenges, when people outside of design can clearly see how empathy, iteration, taste, and creative problem-solving help them achieve their goals. You play a key role in making this connection visible and actionable.
Start by illustrating the versatility of design thinking through examples tailored to different functions. In marketing, it can improve campaign effectiveness by encouraging teams to deeply understand their audiences and craft messages that resonate. In human resources, design thinking enhances the employee experience—helping HR teams identify pain points in onboarding, career development, and engagement. Operations teams can use it to streamline workflows, remove friction, and improve internal service delivery. Even finance or compliance teams can apply design thinking to simplify processes and improve clarity for stakeholders. I’ve found that some of my most impactful work on the company has been in helping those non-product teams with their ideas and processes.
These examples make design thinking tangible. When non-design partners see its relevance to their work, skepticism turns to curiosity. Once they begin applying the principles themselves, confidence grows quickly. The result is a culture where design thinking is not confined to creative teams but used as a shared language for solving problems across the organization.
Collaboration is a crucial part of this shift. Bring diverse teams together for cross-functional sessions focused on real challenges that affect multiple areas of the business. These sessions should prioritize understanding the user (whether that’s a customer, employee, or partner) and generate insights that drive practical outcomes. The more teams work together to apply design thinking to shared problems, the more naturally it becomes part of how the organization operates.
The successful adoption of design thinking depends on giving teams the resources, structure, and encouragement to practice it confidently. It’s not enough to talk about design thinking as a principle—it needs to be supported with the right tools, mentorship, and protected time to experiment and grow.
Start by developing comprehensive toolkits and resource libraries that employees can easily access. These should include guides for conducting user interviews, templates for journey mapping, and best practices for prototyping and testing. Making these materials readily available lowers the barrier to participation and empowers teams to take initiative without needing constant guidance. Personally, I have all of these artifacts inside of my Standards & Defaults.
Offer ongoing training programs that go beyond introductory sessions. Advanced workshops on topics such as storytelling, data-informed design, or facilitation techniques help deepen the organization’s capability over time. Giving your team the permission to learn these skills externally is also a small signals that the company values curiosity and mastery.
Mentorship is another essential form of support. Pair experienced design thinkers with individuals or teams new to the methodology. These relationships provide a safe environment to ask questions, test ideas, and learn through practice. Peer-to-peer coaching reinforces the cultural shift by spreading knowledge organically and creating advocates throughout the company.
Time is perhaps the most critical resource of all. Allocate dedicated hours for exploration and design thinking projects, and protect this time from competing priorities. When employees know they have permission to step back from delivery work to think, test, and iterate, creativity becomes not just allowed but expected.
Finally, invest in the technology and tools that make collaboration and prototyping seamless. Provide access to digital whiteboards, research platforms, and prototyping software, ensuring that these tools are both user-friendly and supported by training. Thoughtful investment in infrastructure signals that innovation is not an extracurricular—it’s part of how the organization works.
Recognition is a powerful force in shaping culture. You are what you measure, which is the positive side to Goodhart’s Law. When teams see their work celebrated—and the impact of that work made visible—they’re more likely to continue investing in new ideas. In the context of design thinking, celebration isn’t just about praise; it’s about reinforcing the behaviors that make innovation thrive.
Start by documenting the outcomes of design thinking projects, especially those that demonstrate tangible improvements in customer experience, efficiency, or collaboration. These case studies serve as proof points that design thinking works. Highlight not just the results but also the process: how teams empathized with users, reframed challenges, and iterated toward better solutions. When shared internally, these stories become teaching tools, inspiring others to apply similar methods to their own work.
Public recognition programs also help maintain momentum. Create opportunities for teams and individuals to showcase their projects, such as through demo days, internal showcases, or company-wide town halls. Recognize not only success but also thoughtful risk-taking and experimentation. Celebrating the lessons learned from failed or inconclusive experiments builds psychological safety and reinforces that learning is progress.
Encourage storytelling across the organization. Invite team members to share their design thinking experiences in internal blogs, newsletters, or short video interviews. Encourage leaders to amplify these stories, framing them as examples of how design thinking connects back to company strategy and customer value.
Finally, make celebration inclusive. Ensure recognition extends beyond design teams to include cross-functional contributors who made innovation possible—engineers, analysts, marketers, or operations specialists. This not only strengthens collaboration but reminds everyone that design thinking is a shared practice, not a departmental one.
When celebration and storytelling become part of the rhythm of work, design thinking stops being an initiative and becomes part of the company’s identity. It signals that curiosity, empathy, and creativity are not temporary priorities—they are the way the organization learns and grows.
To effectively promote design thinking across teams, focus on the following actionable steps and behaviors:
Demonstrate design thinking principles in your daily actions. Approach challenges with empathy, encourage open dialogue, and embrace experimentation. Your leadership sets a powerful example for others to follow.
Advocate for design thinking in strategic planning sessions, team meetings, and organizational communications. Use your influence to prioritize user-centric approaches in decision-making processes.
Provide guidance and support to colleagues exploring design thinking. Offer to lead workshops, share resources, or act as a sounding board for ideas. Your mentorship can accelerate their learning and confidence.
Create tailored training sessions that address the specific needs and contexts of different departments. Ensure that materials are engaging, relevant, and actionable.
Implement a certification program to recognize proficiency in design thinking. This formal acknowledgment can motivate participation and signal the organization’s commitment to professional development.
Invite experts from outside the organization to share insights, trends, and best practices. External perspectives can enrich understanding and inspire new approaches.
Provide access to collaborative platforms, prototyping software, and research tools. Ensure that teams have the necessary equipment and support to engage fully in design thinking activities.
Designate physical areas dedicated to creative work, equipped with flexible seating, whiteboards, and materials for brainstorming and prototyping. Virtual collaboration spaces should also be established for remote teams.
Encourage managers to set aside time for their teams to focus on innovation without the pressures of regular tasks. Recognize that creativity often requires uninterrupted periods of concentration.
Integrate design thinking stages into existing project management frameworks. Update templates, guidelines, and checklists to reflect this inclusion.
Communicate clearly that design thinking is an organizational priority. Include competencies related to empathy, collaboration, and innovation in job descriptions and performance evaluations.
Structure rewards and recognition programs to reinforce the adoption of design thinking principles. Consider bonuses, promotions, or other incentives tied to successful application.
Form communities of practice where employees interested in design thinking can connect, share experiences, and collaborate on projects.
Create platforms for employees to share their journeys with design thinking. This could include internal blogs, video testimonials, or storytelling events.
Host company-wide events such as innovation challenges, hackathons, or design fairs to engage employees and foster a sense of shared purpose.
Articulate how design thinking aligns with the company’s mission and values. Reinforce this vision through consistent messaging and leadership actions.
Facilitate discussions about the experiences of adopting design thinking. Address challenges openly and collaboratively seek solutions.
Highlight the importance of diverse perspectives in fostering innovation. Promote inclusivity and ensure all voices are encouraged and respected.
Encourage teams to interact directly with customers, clients, or end-users. Firsthand insights are invaluable for empathetic understanding.
Build relationships with external organizations, academic institutions, or industry groups to exchange ideas and stay abreast of emerging trends.
Promote continuous learning by sharing articles, attending conferences, or participating in webinars related to design thinking and innovation.
Promoting design thinking across teams is a strategic initiative that can significantly enhance your organization’s ability to innovate, adapt, and thrive in a competitive landscape. By embedding this user-centric approach into the culture, you empower employees to tackle challenges creatively and collaboratively, leading to solutions that resonate deeply with customers and stakeholders.
As the VP of Product Design, your role is pivotal in driving this cultural shift. Through thoughtful leadership, resource allocation, and sustained advocacy, you can inspire a transformation that extends beyond products and services to influence how the entire organization thinks and operates. Embrace the journey with patience and persistence, recognizing that cultural change is an ongoing process that requires commitment from all levels of the organization.
The rewards of fostering a design thinking culture are profound. You’ll witness increased innovation, improved customer satisfaction, enhanced collaboration, and greater employee engagement. These outcomes not only contribute to the company’s success but also create a more fulfilling and dynamic workplace for everyone involved.
Lead by example, support your teams, and celebrate the collective achievements along the way. By championing design thinking across the organization, you’re not just enhancing processes—you’re shaping a more empathetic, agile, and future-ready company.